The Boys Drew More Than 4 Million Viewers in First 10 Days of Release

Amazon’s The Boys is one of the most-watched original programs in the history of the company’s Prime Video streaming service. The series, based on the comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, debuted in July. Within the first 10 days of its release, The Boys averaged 4.1 million viewers per episode. That’s according to Nielsen’s SVOD Content Ratings, which now tracks Prime Video streaming numbers. The premiere episode attracted 6 million viewers, and at least 8 million viewers at least watched the first few minutes of the series. Keep in mind that Nielsen’s SVOD Content Ratings only measure viewers in the United States watching via a television set. Adding in more regions and platforms would give those numbers a boost.

“Nielsen’s measurement in the SVOD space is invaluable for our studio to understand how our programs perform on these platforms and the audiences they attract,” said James Petretti, senior vice president of research and analytics at Sony Pictures TV, the studio that produces the series, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “It becomes even more exciting for us, because Nielsen has the ability to help us understand what these audiences are doing outside of those platforms as well — how and what they are watching on other on-demand and linear services. We are also able to understand the impact of traditional linear advertising driving viewers to these SVOD programs, so what Nielsen is providing is extraordinarily compelling.”

To add some context, Netflix claims that 64 million people watch Stranger Things, its most-watched original series. Based on Netflix’s self-reported numbers, The Boys wouldn’t crack into Netflix’s top 10 original series, though we have to trust Netflix on that. It is still a promising showing by Amazon‘s standard. That Amazon renewed the series before the first season debuted suggests the company saw the show’s potential early on.

“We are thrilled that The Boys have surpassed our predictions for viewing in its first two weeks, and has become one of our most watched Amazon Original series by our Prime Video customers,” said Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios, when the success of The Boys was first reported. “This creates great momentum and excitement for us as we get ready for season two.”

#xecutive producer Eric Kripke added, “I’m so beyond thrilled with the response to Season 1. And mainly, it’s made me get my ass in gear and work even harder on Season 2. don’t want Season 2 to go bigger, I want it to go deeper. A more intense, more insane, more wrenching, more character-driven season. It’s my one and only goal to make Season 2 even better than Season 1.”

What did you think of The Boys? Let us know in the comments.